What will David do if Ed wins?
I have been wondering for a while what David Miliband would do if his younger brother Ed Miliband were to win the Labour leadership. Michael Crick has a post today where he speculates that he would leave politics altogether.
I'm not so convinced. Whilst I am sure it would be difficult for David to serve under his younger brother (I write as the eldest of three brothers) I think it would be seen as extremely churlish and indeed childish if he were to strop off if Ed gets the prize. All his talk about wanting to serve the party and his country would be exposed as hollow. Any career outside politics would surely trade on his reputation from his former career. He would surely not want to leave under such circumstances?
If I were a Labour member I would expect all the candidates to fall in behind whoever wins and put themselves forward for election to the shadow cabinet. Their party is in a fair old mess at the moment and they will need all hands on deck.
If David swans off there will be no way back for him later. He needs to think very carefully before deciding what to do next should this scenario occur.
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2 comments:
I think if Ed were to win David would stick around and bide his time. There is no guarantee that Ed will lead the Labour Party to Downing Street, in fact history is against him on this so it is at least worth sticking in there to see what happens.
Having said that, he has an American wife and two adopted American children so maybe a life in Academia stateside may appeal if he believes his time has passed.
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